In 2022's first food blogging income report, we'll talk about how much I made in Q1 and what changes I'm making for these reports!
Changes to the Food Blogging Income Reports
My last income report was almost a year ago — I definitely haven't been good about staying consistent with these!
Towards the end of 2021, I knew I would struggle to keep up with monthly income reports in 2022 as well.
Last year, I got incredibly busy with my other business, wedding photography. The blog took a backseat from June to November.
This year, I have more weddings booked than any year previously. I know it's going to get busy, and it'll continue to be a challenge to be consistent with the blog.
The solution for these income reports: quarterly reports!
Beginning with this food blogging income report, I'll be switching to quarterly instead of monthly income reports.
This makes sense for me in multiple ways:
1. It'll save me time each month. Obviously!
2. Income is more or less tracked quarterly anyway. Especially marketing and ad income (which affects RPM and how I get paid through ads on the website) fluctuate generally by quarter.
3. Instead of trying to pivot every month and/or discuss the same strategies in my posts, a quarterly approach will give me a better opportunity to track broadly and see how my efforts are paying off in a more than month-by-month basis.
With that, let's get to Q1 of 2022!
The breakdown: how much I made in Quarter 1, 2022
January 2022: 450.75
February 2022: 530.27
March 2022: 449.64
Q1 2022 Total: 1,430.66
Mediavine numbers:
January: 433.49
February: 478.41
March: 439.17
Affiliate numbers:
January: 17.26
February: 51.86
March: 10.47
The takeaways
My sabbatical from posting in the last half of 2021 probably hurt my growth quite a bit. I've been holding steady at about the same average income per month, but I would really have liked to see more growth.
That said, Google's algorithm and Pinterest's updates definitely hurt. I get hardly any traffic from Pinterest now, whereas my organic traffic from Google has been sloooowly growing.
I'm glad my income is holding, but with my overall goal of an average 4 figure income per month, I have a long way to go.
New website design!
One major thing I did so far in 2022: I purchased the Feast Plugin and redesigned the website. This was LONG overdue, as I've always had a free theme.
The Feast Plugin is designed for food bloggers and has ongoing support to keep your website SEO friendly and user friendly.
I'm still gradually implementing changes, but hopefully it pays off!
More consistent social presence
When I wasn't posting recipes in 2021, I also ghosted social media. Frankly, the pressure to post videos on Instagram just alienated me. I didn't have the motivation or patience for it.
With the new calendar year, I've made more of an effort to post on Instagram 3-5 times a week, with a few reels sprinkled in each week.
And guess what? It's more fun that I thought!
I also started a TikTok (because why not?!) and started streaming some of my recipe testing sprints on Twitch.
I REALLY like Twitch as a platform — there's so much more opportunity for engagement and conversation than, say, an Instagram Live. So you can catch me on Twitch a few times a month, streaming some of my recipe tests!
Strategies moving forward
Frankly, my biggest goal right now is just to keep consistently posting.
Last year, I implemented a "keyword-first" strategy for new recipes. That means I currently have a plan for recipes for 80% of the year.
I've done my best to work ahead. But, what tends to happen: I get a few weeks of recipe posts scheduled out, then fall off on keeping up with NEW recipe tests either because certain recipes need more testing or I am putting more time into Chelsea Joy Photography.
In May, I have 4 weddings in 3 weeks. So the goal is to just keep posting consistently when things start getting really busy!
I'd also like to revive my newsletter and send a little more consistently from that.
Similar to scheduling out posts, I plan to write up a few evergreen newsletters that I can send out over the next few months to keep connecting with my subscribers.
To sum up: In Q2, I have 2 main goals:
- Post consistently, 1 recipe per week
- Send 2 newsletters per month
Again, I'm just trying to stay consistent and keep things simple during seasons I KNOW will get busy.
As a soft goal, I also want to continue to be more active on Instagram and Tiktok.
Previous income reports:
Interested to see where we land for Q2? Stay tuned for next quarter's income report!
If you have any questions or have a topic you'd like me to cover in a future income report, leave a comment and let me know.
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